Meant to… and did
Thursday, September 7th, 2006Was it luck?
A miracle?
Or was it divine intervention?
Whatever it was, I know one thing for sure: that I was
really meant to watch Asphalt – no matter what. Even if it rained like hell flooding the streets leading to
the screening venue. Even if there was heavy traffic enough to render the
streets of Makati atrocious and unfit for passage. Even if work drained pretty
much all the blood out of my body leaving no more for brain and brawn activity.
Even if stomach woes and constipation persisted to put me in a state of
unending discomfort. And even if tickets get sold out hours before the
screening of the film.
Well it didn’t really rain last
night. Nor was there a heavy traffic. But I did endure fatigue and wanting
blood circulation since I came straight from work. I did have major stomach woes (damn that Chinese green tea, its
been two days already since I drank a cup and yet my stomach still feels weird
and I’m still expelling runny liquid! @#$!). And the tickets did get sold out
almost two hours before we arrived at Greenbelt (and we arrived an hour before
the film showing, mind you!).
And so clearly all the forces
were against me.
But, as I said, I was meant to
watch that film. Have you ever felt that feeling when you know without a
shred of doubt that something is just meant to happen and not even any kind of
obstacle thrown in the way can stop it from coming to be? That’s what I felt
last night. That is also why instead of leaving right away when we got to the
ticket booth and were told all tickets were sold out, I decided to give it a
wait in the hope of chancing upon some people wanting to refund their tickets.
After standing there for almost an hour looking desperate and tired, a pair of
middle-aged women came by wanting to return one of their tickets. Good thing
that the two didn’t ask for more than the original ticket price although if
they had done so, I would still be willing to pay for it anyway as watching
Asphalt with Cynthia Alexander providing the live musical score is a once in a
lifetime experience.
So that was one miracle indeed
and I was happy to the brim, but then there was another problem. I only had one
ticket but I came with my good friend Mr. Albert who drove me all the way from
Malabon to Greenbelt. Of course I can’t just go on and watch the film by myself
and leave him on his own right? That’s why we needed another miracle.
And then it happened.
A group of young adults came with
an extra ticket to dispose off since one of their friends backed out. You can
just imagine my joy and Mr. Albert’s relief. Had this last miracle failed to
come through, he would have wasted his time, effort and gas money only to go
back home with nothing or find himself watching the only other film showing at
Greenbelt 1 – You are the One (which would have been complete torment
for somebody like Mr. Albert who prefers watching films laden with
philosophical themes or witty dialogue, but I haven’t seen this movie yet, so I
may be wrong?).
And so we got to watch.
Asphalt is regarded by some as one
of the last exceptional silent films of the German Expressionist Era. As I’m
not that well versed in this particular era of German cinema given the few
comparisons I can draw upon, I cannot confirm the aforementioned assertion. I
must say though that the film was indeed exceptional in terms of directing,
cinematography and editing. Considering this film was made sometime in the
1920’s, it had used several modern techniques of filmmaking flawlessly. Of note
is the opening sequence which I think was superbly done and is perhaps, one of
the best montage sequences I have seen thus far in cinema. The plot was just a
simple love story and morality tale but since it was delivered through
mind-blowing visual artistry, I can’t help but fall in love with the film. Plus
with Cynthia Alexander rendering an affecting live musical score as the film
played, the experience of watching Asphalt all the more took on a new level,
becoming a far richer and intense aesthetic experience that stays with you for
a long time. Although I would have to agree with Mr. Albert that Cynthia’s
scoring was a little disappointing. There were a number of times during the
film when I thought that the score didn’t quite capture the mood or intensity
of the scene. At some points too, the transitions were not that smooth,
breaking the fluidity of the narrative. Maybe I had just set my expectations
too high given that I’m a big fan of Cynthia Alexander’s talent and music, or
maybe Cynthia had a different take on the film and wanted to evoke a certain
emotion or atmosphere to reveal her interpretation, or maybe her style was just
not right for this film. Whatever the case maybe, there is no denying the fact
that there was something lacking in the musical score – an unfortunate thing
but nevertheless, not something enough to spoil the whole experience, anyway.
Overall I feel lucky to have gone through this unique experience and I can’t
wait for next year’s offering.
*** Asphalt is the last of the four silent films that
were shown as part of the third German Film Festival held this year. The other
three films were The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Tabu and The Golem. Providing the
live musical score for the films are the Radioactive Sago Project, Bo Razon and
Drip respectively. ***
